There are dozens of Revolutionary War sites and markers in the eastern United States, and Virginia has a number, particularly at Yorktown.  It comes as a surprise to some to cross the Potomac and come into the first major town, Leesburg, and see a proud sculpture of a Revolutionary War soldier heading off to join Washington, with his young son and wife clinging on for those last few precious moments before he departs.  Were their battles or skirmishes here in Loudoun County, Virginia?  Why haven’t I heard of them?
 
At the beginning of the American Revolution in 1775, Loudoun was the Southern Back Country—the new America, a recently settled area close to the frontier that had more than doubled in population in the previous decade.  It was a land of immigrants, some seven different religions, of all social classes and all sizes of farms.  Some had come from Tidewater, some from Pennsylvania, some directly from Europe or Africa.   It was a land of the enslaved, indentured servants, and of the free.  Relatively speaking, it was a land of opportunity.  What made Loudoun contribute more men to the American Revolution than any other county in Virginia, which then stretched from the crashing Atlantic to the mighty Mississippi?  What places still exist on the Loudoun landscape for citizens and visitors that still harken back and tell us the tale of that time?
 
Join in an intimate conversation with the Mosby Heritage Area Association featuring young historian Doug Breton as he shares stories and places from Loudoun's Revolutionary War Era landscape.  Breton interned with the Mosby Heritage Area Association during the summer of 2016, zeroing in on the Revolutionary time period in the region.   A Loudoun Valley High School grad, Breton is finishing his studies in his final semester at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg before heading on to graduate school in history.

The program will begin at 6:00 p.m., though refreshments will be served beginning at 5:30 p.m.  The Great Room at the Middleburg Montessori School will serve as the setting for this unique look at Loudoun's history.  There will be no charge for admission, but donations will be graciously accepted.  Participants in the program will receive a copy of Breton's driving tour of American Revolution sites in Loudoun County.  Call (540) 687-5188 for more information or send an email to kpawlak@mosbyheritagearea.org.